The dominoes are a metaphor for the rituals that are part of OCD, trying to keep at bay a chaotic reality and unwanted, unpleasant, often violent intrusive thoughts. The relentless rhyming scheme (a-b-a-b-c-b-c-d-c-d-e-d-e-…) is also an expression of this ‘compulsive’ part of OCD. In the poem, as in reality, the compulsions fail, and there is a plunge into the sufferer’s obsessions – in this case about contamination (from rats) and guilt (through having killed a rat, or even imagining having a killed a rat through a tenuous chain of events) as well as suicidal thoughts (self-immolation). The ending of x+1 suggests the cycle will repeat, but will be even more daunting next time. The title of the poem is a syllable by syllable rhyme with Obsessive Compulsive Order!